Pneumatic conveying



e. A. GIESELER. PNEUMATIC CONVEYING.

APPLICATION HLED JULY 5. I919.

Patented July 26,1921.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. GIIESELER, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

IPNEUMA'IIC CONVEYING.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnoncr. A. GIEsELEn, a citizen of Germany, residing at Cleveland, in the State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Conveying, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to .that type of apparatus which is employed to convey or move powdered or granular material by air pressure or suction. One important use of such apparatus is the unloading ofcars involving the removal of granular or powdered material from railway or other cars and the transportation of it to storage bins or the portion of the factory or other institution in-which the material is employed. One thing greatly desired in such apparatus is to prevent the material getting free and blowing about in the cars, rooms, bins or in the surrounding air. This is particularly important when the material, as frequently happens, is a very fine powder or dust or is of a poisonous character. Not only are the men working with the material inconvenienced and injured by such free dust but the building and machinery and surrounding neighborhood generally is harmed. In ad-.

dition the actual loss of material is frequently so great as to make the conduct of a business unprofitable.

My invention provides apparatus which economically and conveniently conveys and handles granular or owdered or dust-like material without freeing it in the air either at the point where it is received by my apparatus or at the point where it is delivered.

One embodiment of my invention includes a nozzle for attacking the material to be conveyed to which is connected a flexible hose leading to a receiver from which the air is exhausted. I provide a suitable filter between the receiver and the air outlet to veyed material from the air before it is freed into the atmosphere. The material is removed from the. receiver by means of a rotary lock which is provided with curved partitions which form pockets between them for the receipt of the material. In order to maintain the reduced pressure within the receiver the ends of the curved artitions are provided with fiber wearing strips which bear against, and make a substantially air tight contact with, the frame-carrying the rotary look. 'In practice most materials to Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 26', 1921.

Application filed m 5, 1919. Serial No. 308,725.

be operated upon even though they may be powdered contain lumps or blocks made up of the material itself or of foreign material accidentally present. When such lumps are engaged by the partitions of the rotary lock they may become caught between the partitions and the frame of the hopper. This might put undesirable strains upon the apparatus or cause an injury to it. In order to avoid this, I provide a spring or series of springs across the outlet mouth of the recelver and so associated with the lock' that the pressure may be relieved and lumps convenlently handled without injury to the apparatus.

One specific form my invention may take is shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an elevation somewhat diagrammatic and broken away to more clearly show the rotary lock. Fig. 2 is a perspective of the lower part of the receiver and the rotary lock and its casing. Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary sections showing thekoperation of the spring upon a lump or roc 1 is'a diagrammatic representation of a car or bin containing material 2 in a granular or powdered state. A nozzle 3 is shown in position to operate upon the material and is provided with a suitable valve 4 to regulate the air. inlet. Air is drawn in through the valve 4 and draws the material 2 with it through the nozzle 3 and into a flexible hose 5 which is of a suitable length to convey the material to the receiver 6. Here the material settles toward the outlet 7 while the air rises through the filter 8 and when purified of dust passes into the exhaust pipe 9 which may be connected to a suitable fan or blower or exhaust pump not shown. The dust which is removed from the air by the filter 8 drops into the receiver 6 and Joins the main body of the conveyed material toward the outlet 7. Below the outlet 7 1s a rotary lock 10 provided with a plurality of partitions 11 each of which is provlded at its tip with a wearing portion 12 wh1ch may be removable. The wearing portion 12 is preferably made of fiber such as the well known commercial indurated fiber made from paper or wood pulp. The rotary lock 10 is suitably supported in bearings so that it may be revolved\ by any sultable well known means (not shown) in such a way as to cause the fiber bearin tips 12 to engage the curved portion of t e frame 13- and make asubstantially air tight joint. therewith. In handling some materials, particution of the frame 13 is not shaped to engage the partitions 11 of the rotary lock 10 and may be open to a storage bin or other suitable place for the reception of the material, A pipe 14: connects the upper part of the receiver 6 with the curved portion of the frame 13. It will be seen that if the rotary lock 10 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction the pockets between the partitions 11 will be brought one after another into engagement with the outlet of the pipe 14: so that the atmospheric pressure in the pockets may be relieved to the reduced pressure in the re ceiver 6. Each pocket after passing the outlet of the pipe 14 is directly under the outlet 7 of the receiver so that the material in the receiver may flow by gravit. into the pocket from which it is dumped y gravity when the pocket is rotated so as to pass beyond the curved portion of frame 13. It will be noted that the partitions 11 are curved so as to form pockets curvedon both sides in such a way as to conveniently and easily receive the material fromthe outlet 7 and subsequently dischar c it efliciently at the bottom of the casing rame 13.

,At the mouth 7 of the receiver 6 is a preferably curved spring or a series of springs 15 extending entirely across the outlet and projecting down so that its lower end lies close to the fiber tips 12 of the partitions 11 of the rotary lock 10. In Fig. 4 a lump A is shown engaged by one of the partitions llso as to press backward and upward the curved spring 15; It is obvious that ifthe lumps were forced by the" partitions 11 against a rigid portion of the frame instead of the spring 15 there would be atendency to stop the rotation of the rotary lock or to break some portion of the frame or the partitlons 11. Qf course, the lump" might crumble but fre'quently the material to be handled includes very hard lumps and stones or other foreign material which are too hard to be crushed. By providing the spring 15 the lamp is allowed to adjust itself against a resilient seat and finds its place in the pocket ofthe rotary lock to the left of the engaging partitions 11 in Fig. 4. If carried farther to the left than the position illustrated in Fig. 4 the rock or lump may pass beyond the spring 15 and rise and enter the pocket 16 from which it may subsequently fall without causing any harm or damage into the-pocket to theright of the partition 11 bywhich it was engaged.

The spring 15 is rigidly mounted at its upper edge and is curved at its lower edge toward the left side of the casing 13 so that as the rotary lock 10 rotates in the counterclockwise direction the spring 15 is properly disposed to relieve any pressure which may be caused by a rock' or lump A. In Fig. '2 the spring 15 is shown as extending entirely across the outlet from the receiver 6 and it is cut at '17 so as, in effect, to be made up of a plurality of small springs. This makes it possible to use a heavy weight spring 15 and at the same time. get practically the same resiliency as if each portion between the cuts 17 were a separate spring and indeed se arate springs might be used.

umerous' changes may be made in the details of my apparatus which is shown in this specific form to illustrate but not limit my invention.

I claim as my invention: 7

1. In a pneumatic conveying device, a re ceiver, means forconveying material to the receiver, a filter above the receiver to remove dust from the outgoing air, an outlet from the receiver for the material, a rotary air lock for the material outlet, partitions in the lock forming pockets for the material, and a curved spring in the throat of the material outlet. a .2. In a pneumatic conveying device, a receiver for material having an outlet, a rotary air lock at the outlet for delivering material, and a spring in the outlet cooperating with the lock to handle such irregularities as lumps. j

3. Ina pneumatic conveying device, a receiver for material havlng an outlet, a rotary air look at the outlet for delivering material, a spring in the outlet, and a pocketcooperating with the lock and spring to handle such irregularities as lumps.

4:. In a pneumatic conveying device, a receiver for the material having an outlet, a rotary air look at the outlet for delivering material, partitions in the lock forming pockets between the partitions, and a curved spring in the outlet cooperating with the lock to handle such irregularities as'lumps- GEO. A. GIFQSELER. 

